DiBartolo named SU athletics director

Jun 12, 2017

SALISBURY, Md. – Dr. Gerry DiBartolo, long-time coach of Salisbury University's men's soccer team, is SU's new athletics director. DiBartolo has held the position on an interim basis for the past two years.

"For more than three decades, Gerry worked to mold our men's soccer team into one of the nation's best, with 13 NCAA tournament appearances and eight Capital Athletic Conference championships," said SU President Janet Dudley-Eshbach. "Along the way, he became the 17th winningest coach in Division III history. As interim athletics director, Gerry has supported that same winning spirit in all 21 of the University's varsity sports. He has also helped oversee the largest expansion and redevelopment of athletics facilities in the University's history.

"We are fortunate to have someone with his institutional knowledge and as dedicated to Sea Gull athletics as he is."

"I want to thank Dr. Dudley-Eshbach for the continued confidence she has shown in me and look forward to working with the President's Office, the athletics and campus recreation staff, SU leadership and all Sea Gull fans," said DiBartolo. "We want to continue to help nurture and grow traditions of excellence throughout our programs. The members of the athletics and campus recreation staff have been supportive during this period of transition and it will continue to be a team effort.

"I started my career in higher education as a faculty member and see this position as an opportunity to continue to help students learn what is possible for themselves and others through sport, athletics and recreation."

While interim director, DiBartolo oversaw the opening of Sea Gull Stadium, considered one of the best in Division III, and Sea Gull Softball Stadium. Also under development are new men's and women's soccer fields, intramural turf fields and a new baseball stadium. Athletics has continued its winning ways over the last two years, including two national championships in men's lacrosse and four individual national championships in track & field.

DiBartolo began his coaching career at SU as an assistant men's soccer coach in 1979, the same year he was hired to teach in what is now the Franklin P. Perdue School of Business. He taught marketing strategy and international marketing, and served as the school's associate dean from 1998-2003.

In 1982, he was promoted to head coach of the men's soccer team, leading it to a 411-179-60 over 34 seasons before retiring from the position in 2015. He was named the Capital Athletic Conference Coach of the Year seven times.

DiBartolo earned his Doctor of Business Administration from George Washington University. He has a B.A. in political science and M.S. in management from Frostburg State University. He resides in Salisbury with his wife, Mary, who holds the first Fulton Endowed Professorship in Geriatric Nursing in SU's Nursing Department. They are the parents of two sons, Dominic and Anthony.